Subtle Intentions
by SilentStardust
Summary: Duo Maxwell has a stalker and desperation leads him to contact Preventer agents, Yuy and Chang, before things get too dangerous. What follows is a hectic ride as the stalker escalates and Duo ends up fighting for his life. AU. Please R&R.
1. You Are Your Own Worst Critic

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing.

Chapter 1: You Are Your Worst Critic

Duo Maxwell nervously tugged on his tie as he waited for the Preventer agents to meet with him. Raised on L2 and then finally sent to Earth a short time ago, this was his first voluntary meeting with a member of this law enforcement agency. _Hopefully, these agents aren't as corrupt as the ones on L2_, he thought anxiously. Running a hand over his foot long braid, a gleaming chestnut color that always drew the eyes of both men and women alike, he adjusted the tie on the end.

_Really, this is my last hope_, he miserably thought, wincing at the reminder of his past attempts at dealing with his problem. The locals hadn't cared at all and the cops on L2 had been less than sympathetic. _I don't know what I will do if they refuse to help me. _

Duo straightened as best he could when the doorknob suddenly turned and an agent a few inches taller than him entered the room. _That was quick. Usually I have to wait much longer than this_. Shortly after the first agent, came a second, and Duo felt his breath catching in his throat when he realized exactly how good looking they were. One sat at the table and the other leaned against the nearby wall, holding a folder in his hands. _I bet those were previous reports from the other police officers, he mentally groaned. Great, a nutcase before I even open my mouth. Wonderful._

The clearing of a throat brought Duo's attention to the agent at the table across from him. The unbelievable features across from him, eerily similar to a rather imposing statue he had seen recently, made him want to start drooling. He resisted, but only barely, with the reminder that he was here for serious business, not the acquisition of eye candy. But really, those intense deep blue eyes were really testing his limits.

"So, what has brought you to the Preventers today, Mr. Maxwell?" The agent's voice was precise, as if he had a much more pressing engagement at the moment and would prefer to not be attending this little meeting at all. "Duo, please," I hastily responded. "Mr. Maxwell makes me want to look for someone respectable." The agent against the door snorted. Duo couldn't help but sheepishly grin at the automatic statement he'd been making since he was a kid. _Can't help but make a fool of myself, can I?_

It would really help though, if those two were any less hot. "Well, I seem to have attracted the attention of a stalker. Agent…Yuy?" he questioned, squinting at the nametag pinned to the agent's shirt. "Oh, yes, how remiss of us," the Greek god responded. "I am Yuy and leaning against the wall is Chang, my partner." Silence and then the sounds of papers being flipped came from the nearby wall.

I resisted the urge to gaze at the other agent. Though at this point Duo wasn't sure he could look away from Yuy. It was if he was everything he had always dreamed about in a potential lover. Which was horrible that he was thinking about this now. _I'm just desperate_, he hastily thought. _That's all it is. Haven't gotten laid in a bit._ Well, more than a bit, but who really needs to discuss semantics?

"The local police department reported that you couldn't produce enough evidence to prove a stalker. Only a few hang-ups and a note or two," Agent Chang recited. Duo winced at the word-for-word statement that had resorted to his drastic decision to come here. He sighed. "No," he admitted. "I only recently moved here and my stalker seems to have followed me."

"Followed you?" Agent Yuy questioned. "Explain." "It started on L2, really, a few years ago. I don't know who it is or I'm being followed, but I turned in everything I received to the police there. They never really followed up on it and one day the evidence disappeared."

"Six months ago?" "Yes, I don't know how long he's been here, but it's clear he's tracked me down by the few notes I've received. I started getting the hang-ups last month and the notes began appearing last week."

"Why exactly do you think it's a he?" Agent Chang's voice was so smooth and unworried that Duo was almost caught off guard by the unexpected question. "Excuse me?" "You stated that you did not know the identity of your stalker," Agent Yuy stated. "Explain how you assume the person to be a male." "I don't know," he stammered, unused to actual questioning. "The tone of the letters maybe? I just feel that it's a guy."

The partners shared a long unreadable look and then began flipping through papers. Duo was startled to see that Yuy had an identical folder to Chang on the table. _How long has that been there?_ He immediately wanted to smack himself for the idiocy of that thought_. Most likely since the agent came in. Shows how good my survival skills are. Not._ As he waited, Duo tapped out an absent beat on the glass table.

Finally, the endless paper flipping stopped. Agent Yuy spoke. "Officially, we can do nothing." Duo slumped in resignation, not really surprised. It was a fool's errand to come here and… "However, we can take some steps to make sure that the situation does not continue unobserved." "Meaning?" Duo questioned, looking towards Agent Chang for a less robotic statement. "Meaning, there isn't enough to really do much of anything, not even set up a detail," he admitted. "We can though give you our contact information in case of another message."

Duo perked up. This sounded good. He'd get the phone numbers of two hot guys. Agent Yuy slid a small white card across the table. With a quick glance to the other agent, he took it and noticed a small list of numbers and email addressed practically crammed into the small space. "Here are the various ways to contact us. Those at the top are for immediate emergencies, continuing with less priority as you go down the list."

"Less priority?" he questioned, slightly confused. Couldn't he just call and be done with it? "Yes," Agent Chang stated, picking up the thread of the conversation as he moved away from the wall to stand in front of Duo. He pinned him with a very direct stare. "If the stalker is in front of you with a gun, then feel free to use the top number. However, if you only receive a few hang-ups with some heavy breathing, we will be highly irate if you use anything higher than the bottom numbers." "Remember, we are agents" Agent Yuy continued. "And we know how to hide bodies. If we are pulled out of a critical mission for something that can wait an hour or two, you can go ahead and put yourself on the Missing Person's report."

They truly weren't allowed to threaten civilians like that, were they? One look at their very serious eyes assured him that yes; they were allowed to practically do what they wished. Death threat, noted. Moving on. "I appreciate the help," he choked out, quickly stuffing the card into his inside jacket pocket. He wanted this meeting over. Yesterday.

"Come," Agent Yuy said, rising from his seat_. I would be delighted_, Duo thought. _As long as you help me. Bad Duo! _Mentally, he smacked himself as he followed the agent back through the building. _Keep your mind out of the gutter and off the agent's ass._ His face was flushed red all the way out of the building and all the way home. The card practically burned a hole in his pocket.

"Commander Une will have our heads if she discovers that we took this on," Wufei murmured as they watched the dilapidated little car leave the parking lot. "Then it is best that she does not."

End chapter.

Please R&R.


	2. The Mysterious Mr Barton

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Chapter 2

"Well," Quatre sighed, blue eyes filled with worry. "At least they actually listened to you this time." Dressed in casual, yet very expensive, clothes, the blonde looked every inch the rich young man that he was. He in no way, however, resembled the highly powerful businessman that he undoubtedly was, five days a week.

"Sure," Duo agreed. "They always could have laughed in my face like the last set did." They could have at least taken it somewhat seriously. He had left the police department oddly feeling like some sort of psychic or deranged old man.

Quatre sighed in frustration. "Duo, you knew it wasn't going to end well from the beginning. All you had as evidence."

"Was the hang-ups and my 'intuition.'" He quoted. "Whatever the hell that means."

"Duo! Language!"

"Whatever," he stated, rolling his eyes. "I know. Really. I'm just grateful that they even gave me their numbers this time. Hell," he exclaimed. "I'm grateful that they even let me all the way in the building."

"That's true. They could have done an interview in the lobby."

Despite himself, Quatre snickered. Duo's last experience with the law had been an unfortunate one to be sure, but it had been entertaining, mainly due to the sheer unprofessionalism of the police officers. They hadn't even been able to blame it on small town experience, or lack thereof. They had been in a metropolis for goodness sakes!

Duo gave a smile and then turned to focus on the television once again. After the meeting with the agents, he'd made it a quick trip back to the house to catch the early evening entertainment. Quatre had been lying in wait, having ended his afternoon at work early as well, in order to catch all the gossip.

He and Quatre went back a few years, all the back to his time on L2. Back then, he'd been scraping his way through high school against impossible odds. The church, his one true home, had managed to get him a scholarship to the most expensive academy on the colony. Duo had been forced to fight to stay there, but thankfully he'd made it.

One diplomatic visit to L2 later, in which a chance meeting had occurred, more like Quatre had been hopelessly lost and about five seconds away from being held for ransom, and they had become friends. Friendship had morphed into a job offer upon graduation and Duo had been Quatre's personal assistant ever since. And surprisingly it had worked. Granted there had been a few times that he had contemplated shoving his friend's head in a wall, and he knew Quat had entertained similar thoughts, but all in all they worked well together.

Duo eyed the television and noticed that it was in the middle of yet another sitcom. Really, he wasn't in the mood for traditional movie night, what with the stalking and all that, but he couldn't let Quatre down.

"Duo, I'm for bed. Up for the club tomorrow?" Quatre yawned, standing up to stretch and straighten the various pillows on the couch.

Duo shrugged. He didn't mind one way or another. Except…"You want to go visit Tro-Tro don't you," he teased. The blush was answer enough. "Dude, you either need to just kiss him or I can lock you in a closet together. I'm not picky."

"Don't you dare, Duo!" the blonde hissed. With blue eyes flashing, Quatre took the time to smack him upside the head before heading upstairs. "Don't forget," he called. "Club tomorrow! And yes, you're required to go!"

Duo's laughter followed the blonde all the way to the master bedroom.

* * *

_Next day…_

Duo woke up with the distinct feeling that someone had shoved a giant wad of cotton into his mouth and then proceeded to run him over with a truck. "What the hell is this?" he grumbled, already feeling out of sorts. Reaching back at an odd feeling, he grabbed and held up a matted wad of hair in front of his face.

"Why in the hell?" _I know I didn't take my hair down last night, so how did it…_He squinted at the hunk of hair, but even that pitiful attempt to see it more clearly did nothing more than emphasize how awful it looked. Duo snorted in disgust and flipped it back over his shoulder. He lay there a moment before flipping onto his back. Really, it couldn't get any worse at this point.

Duo sighed in contentment as he patted his stomach. Saturdays were the best. Relaxation and plenty of recreation. Well, after the now mandatory cleaning regimen. It would take him at least two hours to primp, pamper, and then clean after himself. Still, even with the full day of peace ahead, he was still confused.

_I pay top dollar for the super comfortable, super elastic, hair ties, so there is no reason one should pop off in the middle of the night. So, how in the hell?_

"Meow." A jump on the bed followed by the soft patter of foot paws alerted Duo to his visitor. Those tiny paws crawled over the sheets and right up to his face. He scowled at the little orange face.

"Did you play with my braid last night?" Duo accused, running a tip of a finger over the kitten's nose.

The kitten batted him on the lips. It was shortly followed by a nuzzle to his finger and the kitten's tongue slightly poking out of his mouth.

Any anger was forgotten. Duo couldn't resist that tongue. Ever. It was a weakness that he knew the kitten exploited. Even though it was only a few weeks old. "Fine, fine. Just don't do it again, okay?" he scolded.

"Meow."

* * *

Noon brought a sparkling clean Duo, with his hair very firmly set in a braid, down to the kitchen. He didn't know what was up with that cat, but he loved Duo's hair. After he had left the shower, he was standing in front of the vanity when a paw had smacked him on the forehead. He'd looked up, surprised to see the kitten hanging onto the top of the doorframe. Although amusing, it had still scared the ever living piss out of him.

The kitchen was thankfully not too far from the bedroom, especially considering that this was a Winner property. However, unlike others this one was of a very reasonable size that he wouldn't have to wander for an hour before finding the nearest bathroom. And yes, he knew this from experience.

Bounding the last few steps into the room, Duo inhaled deeply and was pleasantly surprised by the smell of stew. Ah, heaven. "Smells good, Quatre," he called. His friend was nowhere to be seen at the moment, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't pop out of the corner at any moment to surprise Duo.

"For someone who never lived on the streets, he sure can get the drop on me," he grumbled. Stealthily, he reached for a spoon to take a pre-lunch snack when a spatula came out of nowhere and smacked him. Hard.

"Don't you even think about it," Quatre scolded. "It's not done yet."

Duo gave the scowling blonde a Look. Not fair. His revenge was instant, however, when he noticed the frilly apron was wearing. He snickered and began setting the table. "Where did you get that Quatre?"

The blonde sniffed and stirred the stew. "From my sister."

"Anyone besides us?" he asked. It was not unusual to have guests on the weekend, whether it was the Maguanacs, or a coworker from the office.

"No, just us, thank goodness."

Ah, that explained the mood. Weekends normally brought out the super cheerful side of Quatre, sometimes to the point where he would practically bounce off the walls. This snippiness was unusual. "Someone tried to pop a surprise business lunch on you again?"

Quatre stirred the stew forcefully at the reminder of it a few more times and then turned off the stove. "Tried, being the operative word. Auda escorted him off the property ten minutes ago"

Duo snickered. The various department heads in the London branch still didn't know how to handle Quatre's decision to move the home office. The process had not only enhanced the size of the London branch, but the egos of every executive as well. Duo took great pleasure in proving how wrong they were each weekend when they pulled these stunts.

"Well, I know what will make you forget it, Quatre!" Duo crowed, giving his friend a tap on the head as he spooned stew into the bowls. He ignored the glare that came his way in return. "A nice date with Tro-Tro."

The blush was both predictable and rewarding. It was so easy to tease Quatre, especially when it came to Trowa Barton. Duo would have to thank the man.

* * *

For a Saturday evening, the club was already hopping. People filled the tables, the bar, and the dance floor. The line outside was almost longer than the amount of people inside. Duo was thankful that they'd been able to just walk right in. He liked to think that it was because of his incredible good looks, but it probably was more about the amount of money Quatre made in a year.

Settling down at the bar, Duo smiled in amusement as he watched his friend crane his head to look for the mysterious Mr. Barton. The two had met a few months ago at this club and they had been dancing around the dating subject for a while.

"See him yet, Duo?" Quatre anxiously asked, vainly trying to smooth down some strands of hair at the back of his head.

"See who?" The deep voice of Mr. Barton had Quatre's head whipping back around to focus on the bartender. Duo had to give the man credit for appearing practically out of nowhere. There had to be a hidden door somewhere.

"Trowa, hi! How's business? You look good, um, that is to say, you're looking quite well, and…"

End Chapter. Please review. Next update soon.

AN: My friend's cat actually pokes his tongue out of his mouth whenever they are play wrestling. I swear he always does it when he knows he is about to lose. It is hilarious. I've also seen the cat climb on top of the bathroom door and smack my friend in the head. Hilarious. So, hope you guys enjoyed. Also, please review. Reviews feed the author. No, seriously, they do. Otherwise it's ramen for me. Disgusting.


End file.
